Posted: 4/1/2009 7:45:49 PM EDT
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Is it legal to carry a loaded firearm in your vehicle while in the great state of texas without a concealed carry permit? Doing some traveling this weekend and wanna be sure.
My gut tells me that in Texas it's only legal if you carry 5+ loaded mags with it. |
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IBTxInvestigator post additional qualifiers such as:
not engaged in criminal activity other than class C traffic violation (does that mean you could be UCW if you threw a cigarette butt out or some other non-traffic class C?) not a member of a street gang not otherwise prohibitied by state or federal law etc etc |
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The instructor of my CHL class made an interesting point about the vehicle carry without a CHL. Whether it's true or not, I will leave to the more learned members here. He said that if you enter into a gun-free school zone while carrying without a CHL, you are actually breaking the law and therefore not legally allowed to carry in your vehicle and thus royally fucked if caught with it. |
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Quoted:
Is it legal to carry a loaded firearm in your vehicle while in the great state of texas without a concealed carry permit? Doing some traveling this weekend and wanna be sure. My gut tells me that in Texas it's only legal if you carry 5+ loaded mags with it. Yes its legal if you keep it concealed ( handgun ). Long guns dont have to be concealed. Why? I dont know. Thats what we are told :) |
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Quoted:
The instructor of my CHL class made an interesting point about the vehicle carry without a CHL. Whether it's true or not, I will leave to the more learned members here. He said that if you enter into a gun-free school zone while carrying without a CHL, you are actually breaking the law and therefore not legally allowed to carry in your vehicle and thus royally fucked if caught with it. That shouldn't be a problem unless you drive through the school building, in that case you have bigger problems than unlawful carry. 
Texas penal code 46.03 prohibits possession of weapons on school premises, but then includes the definition of premises from 46.035 which deals with CHL. 46.03 46.035 |
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Quoted:
Long guns dont have to be concealed.
True, but if you keep them out of sight: 1) Theft is less likely. 2) A disorderly conduct charge is less likely. Disorderly conduct? Rifle racks are still common place in my area, never ever heard of this being brought up. |
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[/quote]
Disorderly conduct? Rifle racks are still common place in my area, never ever heard of this being brought up.[/quote] I have not seen a rifle rack in a truck since I was a little kid. I always wanted one back then but I can see the trouble you could get in. I am curious, what about a motorcycle? Could you ride a bike and have a rifle slung on your back legally? |
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Disorderly conduct? Yes Rifle racks are still common place in my area, never ever heard of this being brought up.[/quote] I have not seen a rifle rack in a truck since I was a little kid. I always wanted one back then but I can see the trouble you could get in. I am curious, what about a motorcycle? Could you ride a bike and have a rifle slung on your back legally? [/quote] Yea 100% legal. But I woud put it in a discrete case or saddle bag. Just don't mount it to the handlebars facing foreward 
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| I saw a shotgun in a gun rack two weeks ago, but it was out toward Abilene, in a one horse town (not even a flashing yellow light) about 20 miles off the I-20 expanse of nothing. And this guy was a rancher wearing one of those thick straw hats, boots, chaps, driving an old beat to hell pickup pulling an old horse trailer. Not too common to see it in or around Dallas anymore. |
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Quoted: The instructor of my CHL class made an interesting point about the vehicle carry without a CHL. Whether it's true or not, I will leave to the more learned members here. He said that if you enter into a gun-free school zone while carrying without a CHL, you are actually breaking the law and therefore not legally allowed to carry in your vehicle and thus royally fucked if caught with it. He's likely referring to the resurrection (with modification) of a federal law creating said "gun-free" school zones. The legislation had been previously struck down by SCOTUS as exceeding Congress' authority. But Congress modified the law to get around the court's objections and re-enacted it. To my knowledge, it has yet to be tested. |
Luckily, federal laws aren't usually enforced by the local police. But if it is concealed and they have no probable cause to search your vehicle all you have to do is keep your mouth shut and take your traffic ticket. Although some LEOs couldn't care less about probable cause.
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Quoted:
Quoted:
The instructor of my CHL class made an interesting point about the vehicle carry without a CHL. Whether it's true or not, I will leave to the more learned members here. He said that if you enter into a gun-free school zone while carrying without a CHL, you are actually breaking the law and therefore not legally allowed to carry in your vehicle and thus royally fucked if caught with it. He's likely referring to the resurrection (with modification) of a federal law creating said "gun-free" school zones. The legislation had been previously struck down by SCOTUS as exceeding Congress' authority. But Congress modified the law to get around the court's objections and re-enacted it. To my knowledge, it has yet to be tested. It hasn't been tested and it has been on the books over 10 years... which tells you something by itself. It is widely believed that the clause added to the 1996 version after the 1990 version was struck down probably won't help, and the 1996 version will be struck down if it ever hits the SCOTUS unless Obama or future liberal presidents succeed in stacking the court with socialist judges. |
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Quoted:
The instructor of my CHL class made an interesting point about the vehicle carry without a CHL. Whether it's true or not, I will leave to the more learned members here. He said that if you enter into a gun-free school zone while carrying without a CHL, you are actually breaking the law and therefore not legally allowed to carry in your vehicle and thus royally fucked if caught with it. Not true under Texas law. |